LO:2 Task 1

Job roles-Camera operator

·        Practical skills

A camera operator must be able to move and operate in a smooth and controlled so they can create a steady and quality video meaning they will need to be physical strong enough to support the weight of a camera for what may be prorogued periods of time roughly 12-14 hrs.

·        Technical skills

They must be well practiced in the use of professional camera equipment and know how to set it up in the best possible way, to do this they must have a good understanding of lighting and shot types so they know what is the best type of lenses to use and how to set the camera up.

·        Communication skills

Camera operators must have a good oral communication skills as they work very closely with the director of photography when setting up to film at a location. Camera Operators work closely with the Grip  (person in charge of equipment that supports the cameras ) and other Heads of Department, and keep them informed about the position and movement of the camera.

·        Organisation

Camera operators must keep their equipment organised and keep track of where it is. This is so the equipment doesn’t get lost or broken or it would slow down production and have a knock on effect with the rest of the production and end up costing the production company money.

·        Creativity

You must have the creative ability to use the correct shot type and composition for shot that your filming and have the ability to think in a creative manner to make the right decisions when filming to create the right meaning that you are aiming for.      

·        Problem solving

As a camera operator you must be able to solve problems quickly as they arise to not waste time or money waiting for problems to be fixed when they should be filming.

·        Working as part of a team

A camera operator must be able to work as a part of a team as they work very closely with the heads of department when on set and be open to others ideas to the overall project.

LO:1 Task4

LO1 TASK 4

1.     Explain how your chosen brand/adaptation has been cross promoted on different platforms with examples.

The Harry Potter film adaptation has been cross promoted on many different platforms for example for ‘The deathly hallows part 1’ they used a lot of cross media promotion in their campaign for example they released a number of posters and teaser posters that were assessable on bus stops, cinemas etc they also made audio visual promotional material which feature on TV, internet and social media these are examples of how the Harry Potter franchise has been cross promoted

2.     How was the brand/ adaptation marketed and distributed (social media, above the line advertising, synergy, games console, app, cinema, etc).

The adaptation was marketed and distributed all over the place and became a very iconic and recognisable brand they used above the line techniques like TV adverts, billboards, posters etc. these types of advertising techniques were used along with below the line advertising techniques i.e. social media, websites etc. They also released smartphone apps, Lego play sets etc. this is an example of synergy as the same demographic that will show interest in the other products will be interested in the Harry Potter franchise ad helps to draw the target audience in.

3.     Who is the audience for the audience (age, gender, spending power). Prove this based on the genre and U&G of the product.

The target audience of the Harry potter franchise is 5 years plus, male and female, abc1 spending power as they will be at the spending power of their parents. As this is an adaptation of a book the target audience would also be anyone who has read the books beforehand. The film also can be used for building personal relationships as the franchise has a large cult following this part of uses and gratification can be applied to children when trying to make friends in the playground or adults in the work place.  

4.     How can audiences access the brand/ adaptation due to technological convergence (web 2.0, blackbox) and what are the advantages of this.

Thanks to convergent technologies the audience can access the media products much easier i.e. thanks to smart TVs that can access the internet the audience can find the product that they want using on demand services like Amazon Prime they can stream the movies at any time they want and thanks to web 2.0 they can recommend Harry Potter to the types of people who are an ideal audience and who would have interest in them based on what they have previously watched. Backbox theory has been a big advantage for the Harry Potter franchise because it allows the audience to access all of the films quickly and easily rather than having to buy each film individually as they are released or having to purchase a box set.        

5.     Was the brand/adaptation successful? (box office figures, likes on social media, retweets etc).

The Harry Potter films were a great success as it generated $7.7 billion over the 7 films and has 75,258,777 likes on its official Facebook page and has many sub groups of supper fans which discus the films and promote them on social media and allows people to build personal relationships with other people.  Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 2 is the 8^th highest grossing film and peaked at 3^rd place at one time. In conclusion the Harry Potter adaptation has been an enormous success and has been a greatly profitable venture for the production company.

LO:1 task 3

LO1 TASK 3

1.      Find an example of how  social media was used to market a AVP and explain the benefits for the audience (black box theory) .

By audio visual promos being available on social media i.e. the Showtime Boxing’s Mayweather vs McGregor AVP it allows the audience to access the marketing material in more ways that if it was just on TV because social media nowadays is available on smartphones,  tablets, laptops etc. this relates to the black box theory and allows the audience to be put into contact with these media products easily and thanks to the invention of web 2.0 these types of promos can be brought to the target audiences attention based on their preferences.

2.      Explain the advantages of VOD distribution with an example (e.g. Netflix, catch up services) and how this has led to ‘death of the schedule’ Sonia Livingstone (1999)

The advantages of VOD distribution is that it gives the consumer the ability to access media products when it suits them and this has led to ‘death of the schedule’ Sonia Livingstone (1999) meaning that regularly scheduled programming goes out of the window when people can stream and download movies when they want meaning they don’t have to plan their lives around when their favourite show is on. The creation of web 2.0 allows these VOD services i.e. Netflix to promote personalized suggestions for users based on what they have previously shown an interest in. VOD is also is an easy way to reach a mass audience without the need of putting thousands of DVDs into production and saves them money in distribution.  

3.      Explain how technological convergence has impacted how audiences access products nowadays (black box, download, stream, simulcast).

Technological convergence has impacted how audiences access media products for example many audiences stream and download media products through the use of VOD services i.e. Netflix which is an example of technological convergence between DVD and the internet and nowadays these media products can be accessed with any devise that can connect to the internet i.e. smartphones, tablets, laptops, smartphones .etc this is also an example of black box theory and how these devices work like a middle man in the delivery of media products, these devices also makes the need for simulcasting even greater when audiences have the ability to watch on more than one devise and VOD companies have taken advantage of this need by offering the ability to stream on more devises at a higher price. 

LO:1 task 2

LO1 TASK 2

PRE-PRODUCTION

Pre-production has been helped by technological convergence in many ways as it has made it much easier for collaboration and for production teams to work together to create media products in pre-production for example online planning applications like Celtx allows people to collaborate on pre-production documents i.e. storyboards, scripts, etc. from all over the world using a digital medium instead of requiring hard copies to be sent back and forth all the time for approval from clients or can let two companies who are working on a joint venture communicate quickly and effectively, this speeds up the pre-production prosses and is an example of how the internet is an example of technological convergence and how it has helped pre-production . Websites like Mindmapfree.com makes it much easier for producers to collaborate on idea about an aspect of their media product, this application allows them to share their idea on an interactive and collaborative platform. Before web 2.0 this would have been a much more painstaking prosses, requiring hard copies being sent back and forth and it would have taken a lot more time by using less high tech forms of communication i.e. post or FAX.

PRODUCTION

Technological convergence has helped the production of media products i.e. Garage band has made it much easier for music artists to be able to make music tracks without the need of lots of instruments and recording studios and garage band also gives you the ability to export your music and can sent it to clients, producers or anyone involved in the production prosses for approval etc. and has the ability to be used on mobile phones, tablets and laptops making it very versatile and useful. Another example of how technological convergence has helped the production of media products is Sony 4K Cameras, as technologies have advanced they have made cameras much lighter and much smaller, these advancements have made it much more easier to carry them around and transport them when filming and allows production teams to speed up the production prosses. In the days before Web 2.0 demo tracks would have needed to be recorded and sent to clients for approval, which would have taken much more time.

  POST PRODUCTION

Post production has been helped by technological convergence through the creation of editing programs like Adobe Premier for editing footage rather than having to physically cut out and piece together the footage with a pair of scissors in the days before web 2.0, using programs like Adobe Premier allows you to keep your footage safe and gives you the ability to ad title graphics and effects and alter the colour and tone of the footage easily and makes the editing prosses much easier and quicker. Smartphones have not only helped with media productions from video calls to storing pictures of your storyboard in your pocket but many apps have been developed for the very purpose of post-production  i.e. WeVideo is a mobile phone app that allows you to access your video files on the cloud where ever you are allowing you to see your files and you can share final drafts of your productions for approval etc.     


In films like ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ they use motion capture technology to create special effects i.e. Davy Jones’ face would not have been near as life like without the aid of CGI special effects a disadvantage of using this is that it requires very expensive to software to hardware and you must pay numerous amounts of people to operate this software and equipment.

LO1: Task 1

Intro

I am investigating the audio-visual industry and looking into how the media products are produced and what goes into making them, from the original ideas to the companies who make them and the individual roles that are required in the prosses. I will also investigate the individual job traits, skills, types and etiquettes needed to succeed in this industry.

LO1 TASK 1

0 Ownership
Different media companies are owned in different ways for example:

Independents: Independent companies like Warp Films often only specialise in one type of media in this case Warp film specialises in film making they have made films and TV programmes i.e. Four Lions. Independent companies are owned on a much smaller scale meaning they have more power and more freedom over what they make compared to a conglomerate i.e. 20th Century Fox but as an independent company has no subsidiaries within their company to distribute their product but have so they usually team up with a conglomerate to assist them with the distribution of a media product, this is called a joint venture for example Warp Films created Four Lions but they got help with the distribution of their products from Optimum Releasing and Drafthouse Films.

Conglomerates: Conglomerate companies are big companies that have a lot of capital for media productions and have many subsidiaries that work with them and assist with the creation, production and distribution of a media production, this is known as horizontal integration, this means that they have complete ownership over what they create meaning they don't have to share credit or income with anyone else. 

Adaptation
An adaptation is when a media company takes a story and make it into a different type of media i.e. a film into a video game or a book into a film, for example The Harry Potter franchise was first a series of books by J.K Rowling and then turned into a film franchise, which was produced by Heyday films, 1492 picture and Patalex IV Productions and was distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures as it was produced by more than one company it is a joint venture and (over the 8 films) had a total budget of $1.3 billion and made (over the 8 films) $8.2 billion and as it was a joint venture the profit will be shared across the media companies that went in on the production also as it is an adaptation the author in this case JK. Rowling will receive money from ownership royalties from the use of her stories in the production. An adaptation also relies on the audiences background of the franchise as the same demographic that read the books will be a prime target when trying to market an adaptation.

Brands

Many brands use cross media platforms to advertise i.e. Marvel use cross media platforms to market their media products  for example they used above the line and below the line techniques to market their film ’Deadpool’ they released a film trailer that ran during prime time tv and as you can see in the picture they also did billboards (above the line marketing) all Marvel always feature their trade mark iconic logo or red  which helps build up brand identity. As Deadpool is an 18 rated film they are marketing to an older audience of 18 -40 year old and will target ABC1s using both above the line and bellow the line methods, and example of an above the line method would be billboard advertising in the central business district as this is where many working professionals aged 18-40 will be every day.  

Another brand that uses cross media marketing is Disney uses adaptations like the mobile phone app as a below the line marketing type and helps to achieve a positive association with the film and the brand its self and builds up people positivity with the brand, as star wars was marketed at a lot more of a younger generation and as most ABC1 children nowadays own a smart phone making the mobile game an effective cross media marketing technique and as the film Deadpool is targeted at an older demographic of ABC1s aged 18- 35 with moderate spending power the main reason the age of the demographic is so high is due to strong language, adult humour and violence  etc. meaning having a billboard in the central business district where many young professionals work is a good position to access the target audience.   


Audience pleasures
The films by Marvel are offer many different types of pleasures through mass following they have made very large fan groups that can be found in many different walks of life i.e. X-Men fan groups and people will often watch these films to become parts of these fan followings this is an example of Macule’s uses and gratifications theory of building personal relations and enables people to gain access to these subcultures and become accepted.  They also offer escapism to the audience as they offer in sight to a world that isn’t possible and is much more interesting and surreal that their own lives. In films like Deadpool, despite hi being a crime fighting, immortal, vigilante the audience see him as relatable at times, i.e. assembling flatpack furniture and doing his laundry, making the audience feel as though they can relate.

Mode of address
Films like, Deadpool use a peer to peer mode of address as Deadpool is very politically incorrect, and uses offensive language i.e. when he refers to Ranjit the cab driver as ‘’My slender brown friend’ this type of language is very informal and friendly to the audience, he also talks directly to the audience through the camera at times engaging the audience. Deadpool’s friendly mode of address also coaches the audience through the back story through the use of voice overs, explaining the different stages of what is going on whilst he is Wade Wilson and before he becomes Deadpool.